


among other dark things

by halfbloodmania



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Eventual Relationships, Female Harry Potter, Gen, Harry Potter is the Heir to the House of Black, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin Raise Harry Potter, Sirius Black is Lord Black, Wrong Boy-Who-Lived (Harry Potter), no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:54:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28846380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halfbloodmania/pseuds/halfbloodmania
Summary: When James Potter gives up his youngest child, ostensibly for her own protection, Sirius Black knows that his friend has changed - and not for the better. And he isn't going to just sit back and watch. Taking up the mantle of Lord Black, Sirius adopts his goddaughter, taking her away from the abusive muggles she had been trapped with.Now Hollis Black, formerly Holly Potter, is ready to start her first year at Hogwarts. Raised in Number 12, Grimmauld Place by her two dads, Padfoot and Moony, as the heir of House Black, she's more than ready to show the world that she's worth more than the Potter's ever thought. Even if it means going to school with Lucas Potter, her twin brother and the famous Boy-Who-Lived.Hogwarts is just as amazing as her dads told her it would be, and Hollis is eager to learn magic. But the mystery of the third-floor corridor is one that she might not be able to resist. And why is Professor Quirrell staring at her, anyway?
Relationships: Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Harry Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 14
Kudos: 164





	1. Chapter 1

With a grin, Hollis Black leaped out of her bed. It was the middle of July, her birthday was coming up, and her Hogwarts letter would be arriving any day now.

For the past week, she had been obsessively checking the post, waiting for her invitation to school, and every day had been a disappointment. But not today.

Hollis had a good feeling about today.

She dressed quickly in the combination of muggle and wizarding clothing that she was used to, something she inherited from her dads. Pulling on her dragon hid boots, she ran down the stairs of Number 12, Grimmauld Place into the kitchen. 

Sirius and Remus were both waiting for her, and she slumped. She had been hoping to be the first up, but somehow they were always there first.

"Good morning, cub," Remus said, ruffling her short hair as she passed him. Hollis scowled a little, ducking out of his range and straightening her black strands. She had just gotten it how she liked it.

"Morning Moony, Pads," she said, sitting down at the table. She had always called them by their nicknames, rather "dad" or anything similar. She rather liked it - it was different, and she knew that Sirius and Remus liked it, too. After all, none of them had what would be called a normalrelationship with their birth parents.

Practically vibrating in her seat, Hollis had barely thanked Kreacher and taken a bite of her eggs when a barn owl flew through the open kitchen window, dropped a letter on her toast, and flew away again.

Without ceremony, Hollis dropped her fork and ripped open the letter, not even bothering to look at the address.

 _Dear Ms. Potter_ , it began, and she frowned, immediately disappointed.

"It's got the wrong name," she complained to Sirius and Remus. "It's calling me Ms. _Potter_."

Remus tugged the letter out of her hands and looked it over, while Sirius rolled his eyes.

"It's that old coot's doing, no doubt," he said, as Remus handed her back her letter, looking displeased. "Dumbledore is very big on the meaning of blood family. He's never accepted your adoption."

Hollis shook her head. She had never met Albus Dumbledore, at least not that she remembered, but she didn't think she liked him very much. Sirius and Remus were always complaining that he stuck his nose where it wasn't wanted. Besides, she was perfectly aware that he wanted her to go to those muggles, instead of Padfoot and Moony.

"Can I change it?" she asked. "I don't want the professors calling me _Potter_ all the time."

"I'll write to the deputy headmistress," Remus said, buttering his toast. "Minerva has always been more reasonable than Dumbledore."

"Good old Minnie," Sirius added. "She's always liked me."

Remus snorted.

"If McGonagall knew that you called her Minnie behind her back, you'd be sporting a dog's tail, or worse," he said fondly. "I think she's still mad you became an animagus under her nose."

"Oh, yeah." Sirius sounded rather dejected by this reminder, and Hollis laughed, suitably distracted from the mistake in the letter.

She didn't like being reminded of her birth parents, instead preferring to imagine that she had been born to Sirius and Remus, somehow. Part of her knew such denial wasn't healthy, but it was better than having to think about how she was related to the bloody Boy-Who-Lived.

How her parents had given her up, because she wasn't him.

But she didn't want to think about that right now. Her Hogwarts letter had finally arrived, after all.

“Can we go to Diagon today?” she asked, a pleading note to her voice as she looked at Remus and Sirius. “ _Please?_ ”

“Well,” Sirius said, frowning. “I do have that Wizengamot planning meeting later. And Remus needs to see with the pack... Of course we can go today!” he said, laughing.

Hollis rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t help the smile that appeared on her face. She was too excited about finally going to Hogwarts, about getting her wand and all her things, to really be annoyed.

“Eat your breakfast,” Remus nudged gently. “Wash up, and we can go after.”

Hollis obediently wolfed down her food and drank her juice, before running back up the stairs to brush her teeth and try and tame her hair. It was something of a pointless endeavor, as always, but she managed to get it to resemble neatness.

She bounded back down the stairs, and Remus and Sirius were both waiting for her in the sitting room. 

“We’re going to floo into the Leaky Cauldron,” Remus told her, taking a pinch of green powder from the pot on the mantle. He tossed the powder into the fireplace, called out his destination, and stepped through.

Biting back a groan — Hollis hated the floo, even if it was convenient — she tucked her glasses into her pocket and took a pinch of the sparkling dust herself, letting it fall through her fingers into the flames. As they turned green, she took a step into the fireplace.

“Diagon Alley!”

A sickening sensation filled her as she felt the fireplace disappear, and she saw grate after grate as she was transported through the floo network She closed her eyes, but that only made the dizzy feeling worse.

Then, as suddenly as it had started, the sensation stopped, and she stumbled out of the fireplace at the Leaky Cauldron into Remus’ waiting arms.

“You all right there, cub?” he asked, steadying her on her feet. She nodded, feeling queasy, and he laughed a little bit, rubbing her back. “Don’t worry. You’ll get used to it, eventually.”

Hollis doubted it, but she didn’t say so. She couldn’t imagine ever actually wanting to use the floo, and not for the first time, she wished she could apparate.

Sirius appeared in the fireplace a moment later, striding out of it like the lord he was, and Hollis rolled her eyes. _Showoff_.

“Ready to go?” he asked cheerfully, and Hollis knew he was as excited as her to get her school things. She took a deep breath, and straightened her back, before talking Sirius’ hand in hers, grinning up at him.

Remus took her other hand, and they headed through the pub, mostly ignored by the residents save for a cheery greeting from Tom, the barman, which they returned.

Once in the back of the pub, Sirius drew his wand out of his pocket and raised it, tapping the brick wall three times. Hollis watched as the bricks melted away, leaving an arch in their wake. She was endlessly fascinated by magic, especially the kind that most witches and wizards overlooked. She wondered how Diagon Alley worked, how the enchantments and runes formed to make it not only invisible to the muggle eye, but to their cameras and satellites, as well.

She was distracted from her wandering imagination by the sight of the Alley itself. It never ceased to be awe-inspiring to Hollis, and she grinned, tugging her dads forward as they entered. 

“Where should we go first?” she asked, the letter heavy in her pocket. The alley was full of Hogwarts students milling about, some in wizarding robes, others in muggle fashion, and a fair few in a mix like herself. She looked around, biting her lip.

"How about Flourish and Blotts?" she suggested. What she _really_ wanted was her wand, but she was also a little bit nervous to get it. So she would settle for the second-best — books.

Remus squeezed her hand while Sirius laughed.

"If you keep that up, cub, you're going to end up in Ravenclaw," he said teasingly, leading her down the alleyway towards the large book shop.

"And what's wrong with that?" Hollis demanded with a grin. "There's nothing wrong with a love of knowledge."

"I was almost a Ravenclaw, you know," Remus said conversationally. "But it was decided that I would do better in Gryffindor."

"How do they decide what house you're in, Moony?" Hollis asked for the first time.

She could feel Sirius and Remus exchanging glances over her head.

"It's a secret," Sirius said finally. "Traditionally, first years only find out when they get to Hogwarts. But don't worry!" he added in the face of her concern. "You'll be fine. Whatever house you're in, you'll love it there."

Hollis wasn't exactly reassured, but she put the matter out of her mind for the moment. She had more important things to worry about.

The trio entered Flourish and Blotts to find that it was packed to the brim, and the staff were terribly busy. They split up to collect her books, Remus heading upstairs and Sirius remaining with her.

She had just picked up _Magical Theory_ by Adalbert Waffling and had added it to her small stack when she felt someone bump into her. The books slipped from her hands as she tumbled back, startled.

"Oh, sorry!" It was a red-haired boy, running through the store. "I didn't see you there. Here, let me help." He knelt down and began gathering her books for her. 

"It's all right," she said. "It was an accident."

"Are you a first year?" he asked, seeing the titles of the books in his arms. "Me too! I'm Ron Weasley."

"Hollis Black," she said, accepting the stack of books back into her arms. "Nice to meet you."

His eyes widened. 

"Like Lord Sirius Black?" he asked. "My dad talks about him, sometimes."

Hollis grimaced. Her father had done a lot in the public eye ever since she was adopted, and even before, and she was proud of him. But sometimes she didn't like that people saw the Black family reputation before they saw her.

"Yeah, that's my dad," she said. "He's over there," she said, pointing at Padfoot, who, it looked like, was flirting with one of the booksellers. She rolled her eyes. No matter that he had been in a committed relationship for over a decade, he was an incorrigible flirt.

Ron glanced over at Sirius, and then back to her.

"Cool," he said. "Hey, did you hear the Boy-Who-Lived was in the alley today?"

Hollis froze, eyes widening.

"Yeah," Ron said, mistaking her reaction for excitement. "I saw him down by Gringotts. I can't believe we're going to be in the same year! I'm going to be his friend," he bragged.

"That's nice," Hollis managed, almost choking on her words. She hadn't been around her twin brother since they were both very young, and her memories of him we hazy. She didn't know Lucas, and she didn't care. It was James and Lily she wanted to avoid. "Excuse me."

She took her books and hurried back over to Remus, who was definitely the more level-headed of her two dads and had just descended the stairs.

"Moony!" she hissed, tugging at his arm. "I just heard that the Potter's are in the alley today. Some boy told me."

Remus frowned, glancing over at Sirius. She was sure he was worried about the same thing she was. Padfoot had once been best friends with James Potter, and the dissolution of that friendship had left a mark on him. He despised the Potter's now, and he was as likely to get into a fistfight with James as ignore him.

"Damn," Remus muttered under his breath. "Well, nothing to be done about it now, cub."

"We could come back another day?" Hollis said, not sure what she wanted his answer to be.

"No," Moony said firmly. "We're not going to let them drive us away. Besides, you're going to have to get used to being around Lucas Potter sooner or later. You'll be at the same school, and likely see each other in classes. Sirius is just going to have to get over it - or pretend to, anyway."

Privately, Hollis doubted Padfoot's ability to forgive James. She knew that there was a lot that they weren't telling her, that there was more to the story of her adoption, and something beyond that. But Padfoot and Moony refused to give her the details, so she was left to speculate.

Whatever had happened between James and Padfoot, Remus was right about one thing. They couldn't let the Potter's drive them away — from Diagon Alley, or anywhere else.

"All right," she said. "But we'd best let Sirius know. Who knows what will happen if he's caught without warning?"

"Good point," Moony said, looking around over her head. "All right, do you have your books? Good. Why don't you look around for something fun while I talk to Pads?"

That sounded like a plan to her, so Hollis dumped her books into Remus's waiting arms, and went to examine the shelves. She was flipping through a copy of _Curses and Counter-Curses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and much, much more)_ by Professor Vindictus Viridian, when Sirius approached her, a frown on his face.

"Remus told me," he said in a low voice. "Are you sure you don't want to leave?"

"I can't," she said, and his frown increased. "I mean, I can't run away from them forever, can I?"

The lines on Sirius's face disappeared, and he reached over to hug her awkwardly with one arm.

"I'm proud of you, cub," he said. "Now, let's go. We can't hide in the bookstore all day, as much as you and Moony would like to!"

He approved of her selection — _in case any boys start bothering you_ , he said — and added it to her stack when they joined back up with Remus. They paid, and had the books sent back to Grimmauld. 

Their trip to the apothecary went smoothly, as did Hollis's purchase of a telescope, scale, and cauldron. In Madam Malkins, however, they ran into her father's cousin, Lady Narcissa Malfoy, and her son Draco.

By virtue of their parent's association, Hollis and Draco had spent time together before, but they weren't exactly close. Hollis thought that Draco was a bit stuck up, and privately she suspected that Draco was a bit intimidated by her. He certainly acted it.

Still, she smiled when she saw him. It was nice to see a familiar face, even if it was Malfoy.

“Hello, Draco,” she said pleasantly as she climbed up onto the stool next to his, where he was being fitted. “I didn’t know you would be in Diagon today.”

“Hollis,” he said politely, if a bit stiff. “It’s good to see you, as well. How’s your shopping going?”

“Oh, it’s going all right,” she said, thinking of the red-haired boy, Weasley, and the news he gave her. “We just have to get my wand after this. How’s yours?”

“Fine,” he said, almost shrugging and avoiding an awkward pin at the last moment. “Everyone’s going on about the Boy-Who-Lived, though. It’s a bit tedious. Oh, sorry,” he added, seeing her uncomfortable expression.

“It’s okay,” she said. “I agree; one boy in Flourish and Blott’s was telling me how he’s certain to be Potter’s best friend at Hogwarts.”

Draco rolled his eyes, and Hollis grinned. In this, at least, they agreed — Lucas Potter was overrated.

“Are you excited for Hogwarts?” he asked her, changing the subject. “I am. I’ve been trying to get father to buy me a new broom, so I can smuggle it in.”

“Of course I am!” she said. “And you hardly need a new broom, Draco. Didn’t you get one for your birthday two years ago? Besides, even if you did smuggle it in, how would you use it? First years aren’t allowed them.”

Draco flushed high on his cheeks.

“I suppose you have a point,” he said. “Still, my broom is outclassed, now that they’ve come out with the Nimbus 2000. I can’t compete with that!”

“The Nimbus 2000s are nice,” she allowed. She wanted one herself. “I hope I get one for my birthday.”

“Oh yeah, your party is in a couple of days, right? It’s going to be fun, I bet. Better than the other one.”

Hollis laughed.

“You mean Lucas’s? I don’t know about that.”

“ _I’m_ going to be there,” Draco said haughtily. “Of course it’s going to be better.”

Hollis realized belatedly that Draco was trying to make her feel better about sharing her birthday with Lucas. She was a little touched — perhaps she hadn’t given him enough credit.

“Well, with you there it’s sure to be fun,” she said.

Draco smiled brightly at her.

“That’s you done, dear,” the witch fitting Draco said, and the one taking care of Hollis soon followed. They left the fitting room only to see Narcissa Malfoy speaking with Sirius and Remus. All three adults turned as Draco and Hollis entered, ceasing their conversation suddenly.

“Hollis! Don’t you look lovely, dear,” Narcissa said with a soft smile, and Hollis couldn’t even tell if she was lying. “Your fathers were just speaking to me about your birthday party. We’ll be there, of course.”

Hollis smiled and nodded. She herself had attended Draco’s eleventh birthday party only the previous month, at Malfoy Manor. It had been a good opportunity to get to know some of her future classmates — the pureblooded ones, at least. And it had been fun, as well.

“I look forward to seeing you there,” she said, and found that it was true. While there had been some tension with the Malfoy family, they had proven to be allies in the Wizengamot, or so she understood from what Sirius rambled about his work. Apparently, he had never expected to get along with Lucius, let alone see his child call him Uncle. 

Sirius was speaking to Draco, congratulating him again on his Quidditch moves. Of course, Hollis had given him a run for his money on a broom, as she was quite skilled herself. Thankfully, Draco preferred chaser and Hollis played seeker, so they didn’t compete too much on the field.

“You’ll definitely get on the house team if you keep practicing,” Sirius was saying, and Draco had puffed up proudly. His mother placed a delicate hand on his shoulder.

“Of course he will,” she said calmly. “And Hollis here will make an excellent seeker at Hogwarts.”

She grinned.

The two families made their way out of Madam Malkin’s, chatting amiably before they separated — the Malfoy’s to Flourish and Blott’s, and the Black’s to get Hollis’s wand, both bidding friendly farewells.

Remus led the way into Ollivander’s and Hollis eagerly followed. She had seen the shop from a distance before, but never had the opportunity to enter it. It was a small, dark, dusty room, with wands in boxes haphazardly stacked along the walls to the ceiling. Sirius followed her inside, and they all jumped a bit when the door slammed shut.

“Ah, Miss Potter,” a voice came from behind the front counter. “I’ve been wondering when I would see you.”

“It’s Miss Black,” Hollis corrected sourly. 

“Of course, of course. My apologies,” he said, sounding sincere, and she was mollified. “Mr. Black! Cypress with unicorn hair, yes?” he said, peering at Remus. “And Lord Black, naturally. Ebony with dragon heartstring. I hope they are serving you well?”

“Very well, thank you, Mr. Ollivander,” Sirius said. “Now, Hollis is here for her wand.”

“Yes, yes, let’s see,” he said, turning his unnerving gaze onto Hollis. “Now, what is your wand hand?”

“My right, sir,” she said.

“Very good,” and he pulled out a white measuring tape, and measured her right arm, first from shoulder to fingertips, then from shoulder to elbow, elbow to wrist, and then shoulder to shoulder. He continued measuring her in various combinations until Hollis was quite uncomfortable about the whole affair. Before she knew it, the measuring tape was working of its own accord, and Mr. Ollivander was browsing the shelves.

“That’s quite enough,” he snapped after a moment, and the measuring tape fell to the floor. “Now, maple with unicorn tail hair,” he said, handing her a short wand. “Give it a wave!”

She did so, and nothing happened. The same with the next three wands she was offered. But instead of looking annoyed, Mr. Ollivander appeared more delighted each time a wand didn’t suit her.

“Ah, tricky customer!” he said. “But I wonder... yes, why not? Why not, indeed?” Ollivander wandered to the back of the shop, muttering to himself, and returned with a box.

Opening it, he showed it to Hollis

“Eleven inches, holly and phoenix feather,” he said, displaying the open box. “Why don’t you give this one a try?”

Hollis took it out of the box, and immediately, she knew it was hers. Tingling warmth shot up her arm, and silver and gold sparks shot out the end of the wand. She grinned.

“Bravo! Oh, yes, indeed!” Mr. Ollivander said, clearly excited. “I do wonder, however....”

“What is it, sir?” she asked, unable to contain her curiosity.

“You see, Miss Black, the phoenix who gave me the feather in your wand donated one other feather - just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother gave you that scar."

He stared at the vivid lightning bolt scar on her forehead, her only remnant of the attack that made her brother famous. 

"Yes, thirteen and a half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember… I think we must expect great things from you, Miss Black… After all, He Who Must Not Be Named did great things – terrible, yes, but great."

Hollis felt chilled. She had done her best to separate herself from the Potter's, You-Know-Who, and particularly the Boy-Who-Lived. For her wand to have such a close connection with the Dark Lord... it made her uncomfortable.

Sirius paid Mr. Ollivander, while she took her new wand and stashed it in her robes. The wand was _hers_ now, she decided, and she wasn't going to let its brother wand get in the way of that. She _was_ going to do great things, as Mr. Ollivander said, but not because of her wand or her brother.

It would be on her own merit.

The holly wand heavy in her pocket, Hollis followed her parents, glad to be out of Mr. Ollivander's shop. She wasn't sure she liked the man very much, in the end.

Above her head, Sirius and Remus exchanged a worried glance.

"Well, I think we have everything," Remus said cheerfully. "Hollis, is there anything else on your list?"

"No," she muttered. "We have it all."

"I don't think so," Sirius added. "I think we forgot something, didn't we, Moony?"

"Oh, I think you're right, Padfoot." Remus slipped his hand into Hollis's, Sirius taking her other hand.

She looked up at them curiously.

"What do you mean?"

"I think we're due at Quality Quidditch Supplies, hmm?" Sirius said, eyes sparkling as he looked down at her.

Hollis grinned, tugging them forward as she spotted the shop in the distance.

"Hurry up!" she said, mind taken off her troubles, at least for the moment. There was only one reason they would go to the quidditch shop, after all - a new broom for her birthday.

Excitedly, Hollis let go of her dad's hands to push the door open, eager to look at the brooms, only to freeze.

There, standing in the shop and examining a broom, was Lucas Potter.

Hollis swallowed heavily, took a deep breath, and decided not to let him stop her. Even if it meant that the rest of the Potter's would be in the shop.

She couldn't avoid them forever.

With Moony and Padfoot at her back, she entered the shop and turned toward the display of Nimbus 2000s, determined to ignore her so-called family.

Unfortunately, the Potter's weren't on the same page.

"Sirius," Lily Potter said warily, standing next to her husband. "Remus. Hollis."

"Lily," Remus said coolly. "James."

Sirius and Hollis seemed content to ignore the family, as Sirius lead her over to the Cleansweep 7 and started to ask her about what she wanted out of her broomstick.

For a moment, it seemed that things would be all right. Remus, who had the most level head out of the three, was speaking haltingly to Lily, and James was with Lucas, examining the Nimbus.

But then James turned around and saw Sirius.

"Padfoot!" he said jovially, as if nothing had changed between them. From eavesdropping, Hollis knew he was always like this, as if they were still just out of Hogwarts and best friends. "I didn't know you'd be in the alley today!"

"James," Sirius bit out, and Hollis could hear the disdain in his voice. "We certainly didn't expect to see you, either."

James seemed to be oblivious to Sirius's tone and continued.

"Are you here for a new broom?" he asked, gesturing to the Cleansweep 7 that Sirius was examining. "We're getting one for Lucas's birthday."

Sirius spoke through clenched teeth.

"Hollis is getting a new broom for her birthday, as well," he said, and the hand on Hollis's shoulder tightened slightly.

"Oh, of course," James said, undeterred. "Well, the Cleansweep 7 is a nice model, but we prefer the Nimbus, I think, don't we Luke?" 

The Boy-Who-Lived didn't seem thrilled at their appearance.

"Yeah," he said stiffly. "I'm definitely getting the Nimbus." 

James clapped him on the shoulder.

"What position do you play, Hollis?" he asked, and she bit back her acerbic reply.

"Seeker," she said, more calmly than she felt. 

"Oh?" James said. "Lucas plays seeker, also. Perhaps we'll have some friendly competition at Hogwarts, hmm?"

Hollis didn't feel confident that anything between her and her brother would be friendly, but she didn't say so. 

"I'm sure," Sirius all but growled. "Hollis is very good."

"Well, maybe she can outfly Luke's at his birthday party! You're all coming, aren't you?"

There was an awkward silence.

"No," Hollis said, speaking without thought. "It's my birthday, as well, you see, and I'd like to celebrate it at home."

James looked flustered at this reminder.

"Oh, of course," he said. "I didn't mean - I only thought you two could celebrate together."

Hollis couldn't believe what James was saying. _Celebrate together?_ If he was so interested in that, why had he sent her away? Was he really pretending that everything was fine?

"Thank you for the invitation," Remus said, coming to their rescue. "But Hollis has her own birthday party the day after, and we'll be setting up for it on the 31st."

It was a flimsy excuse, and when James frowned and opened his mouth, Hollis just knew he was going to call them on it. Thankfully, Lily spoke first.

"Of course," she said softly. "We only meant - well. I hope you have a good birthday, Hollis." 

"Wait a minute," James said, and Lily closed her eyes. "You don't want to come?" he asked Hollis, looking confused. "Why not? Everyone wants to come to the Boy-Who-Lived's birthday party!"

" _Dad_." Lucas sounded embarrassed. "It's just a party. It's not a big deal."

James shook his head.

"I know things have been kind of tense," he said, vastly undermining the situation, "but you'll be going to Hogwarts with your brother, Hollis. I think it's time you two got to know one another."

Hollis clenched her fists, trying to remain calm, but her birth father's smug face and righteous attitude got the better of her, and she spoke without thinking.

"If you wanted us to know each other," she said bitingly, "maybe you shouldn't have shipped me off to live with muggles!"

James looked taken aback.

"How do you know about that?" he demanded.

"Sirius and Remus don't keep secrets from me. Not secrets like that, at least," she said, not mentioning that she used to have nightmares about it - nightmares about being locked in the dark. 

James Potter didn't deserve to know that. She refused to allow him to know her secrets, to be vulnerable to him.

He scowled.

"Whatever they told you, we just had your best interest at heart," he said, glaring at Sirius.

Hollis scoffed, but didn't say anything. She didn't want to dignify that with a response.

"James," Lily said, approaching her husband and taking his hand. "Perhaps now isn't the best time."

Potter ignored her.

"We knew there would be people after us, after Lucas," he said, gesturing to his son. "There were wards around the house, you would have been safe from Death Eaters there."

Hollis shook her head. She knew that he would stubbornly keep to his version of events; that nothing could change his mind. 

"Fine," she said. "Whatever. Happy Birthday, Lucas. Let's go, Moony, Pads. We can owl order my broom later."

Sirius looked like he was about to object, and part of Hollis didn't blame him. The rest of her, however, was exhausted by the unexpected meeting, and gave him a look as she tugged at his hand. Sirius seemed to get it, and the small family left Quality Quidditch Supplies, rather more subdued than they had been upon their entrance.

* * *

**_BOY-WHO-LIVED HAS TWIN!_ **

**The Potter's Dark Secret**

_Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent_

_The boy who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named ten years ago was seen in Diagon Alley yesterday, shopping for his school supplies. As regular readers will know, Lucas James Potter will be attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a first year starting this September._

_A confrontation in Quality Quidditch Supplies, however, sheds new light on the events of Halloween, 1981. Head Auror and Lord James Potter was confronted by Lord Sirius Black, along with his husband, Remus Lupin-Black, and his daughter, Hollis Lillian Black, regarding Miss Black's adoption._

_Sources close to the Potter family confirm that Hollis Lillian Black was born Holly Lily Potter, the younger twin to Lucas, and was adopted by Lord Black and his husband before her second birthday, after spending time with Lily Potter's muggle family._

_This intrepid reporter discovered that, a short time after the defeat of You-Know-Who, then-Holly Potter was left at the house of the Dursley family. I went to Surrey, seeking this muggle family out, and Mrs. Dursley was all too happy to speak to me about her sister._

_"I remember when we had the little girl," Petunia Dursley nee Evans says from her home in Little Whinging. "Lily just dropped her off one day, no warning, and told me we would be safe. Safe from what, I ask you? Anyway, we had her for about a week before those men from the Ministry came. They asked us all sorts of questions, and took the girl away. All for the best, I think. Your kind - wizard and witches, I mean - are best raised by their sort."_

_From there, in a closed, secret adoption ritual, Holly Lily Potter became Hollis Lyra Black._

_This reporter asks why? What danger was so great that the Potter's gave up their only daughter to her godfather, Lord Sirius Black? Historically, godparents only took custody when the birth parents proved unsuitable. Why was this kept a secret from the public?_

_Rest assured, I will continue searching for answers._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been wanting to write a Wrong-Boy-Who-Lived story for ages, and this is my humble attempt. I'm posting it as I write it, with minimal edits, so please forgive any mistakes.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!


	2. Chapter 2

September 1st that year was unusually warm, and students and parents alike shed jackets and outer robes as they mulled around Platform 9 3/4. The air was full of hooting owls, meowing cats, and the occasional croak of a toad as belongings were gathered, and children wished their mothers and fathers goodbye. 

Among them was Hollis Black, leaning against Padfoot as he hugged her, stroking his fingers through her short black hair.

"I'm going to miss you," she said, though her words were muffled where she spoke into Sirius's shoulder. She pulled back to look at Remus. "Both of you."

Sirius hugged her again, only for Moony to step forward and join, embracing both of them.

"We'll miss you, too, cub," he said, kissing her forehead. "But Hogwarts is amazing, you'll see! There will be so many new friends, and places to explore, and even the classes can be fun. You'll have a wonderful time."

Hollis pulled back, biting her lip. The newspaper article, telling the whole world that she had been adopted, that she had once been a _Potter_ , had been published the day after her trip to Diagon Alley. It had quite ruined her mood, and it was only the prank war that Sirius and Remus held that managed to lift her spirits before her small birthday party. 

Now her melancholy returned full force. Instead of being just another student, or at worse, the Heir of House Black, when people saw her they would first think of Lucas Potter and how her parents didn't want her.

It wasn't exactly how she imagined things would go. It wasn't the kind of first impression that she wanted to make.

But that dragon was already hatched, as the saying went, and there wasn't anything to be done about it.

Hollis hugged Sirius and Remus one last time, wishing that Hogwarts didn't mean that she had to leave Grimmauld Place. 

"Go on, now," Sirius said, pressing a kiss to her temple. "Or the train will leave without you."

With a determined nod and a weak smile, Hollis took the handle of her new trunk, filled with her school supplies and a few other things, mostly books, and waved.

"I'll write to you as soon as I can," she promised. Her owl, Hedwig, who had been a birthday surprise, would be glad of the exercise.

"You'd better. Tell us all about Hogwarts - I'm sure it's changed since we were in school," Remus said. 

"And don't worry about being sorted," Sirius added as if reading her mind. "It doesn't matter what house your in, not really."

"All right. I love you both!" Hollis said, and with a wave, turned away towards the train, pulling her magically lightened trunk and owl cage behind her.

They called out their farewells as she climbed up the stairs and into the scarlet train, nerves fluttering in her stomach. What if _everyone_ had read the article in the Daily Prophet?

What if people looked at her and saw only Lucas Potter's twin, not Hollis Black?

She shoved the through away harshly. Hollis had spent her whole life trying to be independent of the Potter's and their actions, and she wasn't about to let some stupid newspaper stop her now. If people didn't see her for who she was, she would _make_ them.

Determination filling her, Hollis walked down the train's corridor, peering into compartments. Most of them were full, and the ones that weren't had older students in them. She didn't particularly want to sit with older students, though. She wanted to find people her own age, fellow first years.

Perhaps Draco.

But what she did _not_ want to find, she knew, is Lucas. Hollis, in truth, wasn't sure what she felt towards her twin. It wasn't Luca's fault, after all - none of it was. But she couldn't help the feeling of jealousy that filled her whenever she saw him, the knowledge that their parents chose him over her a sharp edge in her mind. And for that, Hollis wasn't sure she could forgive. Even though she loved her dads, loved her life, she felt marked by what had happened, as certainly as the scar on her forehead marked her, as certainly as Lucas had been marked by You-Know-Who.

Near the end of the carriage, at the last compartment, Hollis paused. A girl who looked about her age was sitting there, talking to a boy about her age, a book in her hand. She knocked on the door, and slid it open.

"Hello," she said politely. "Do you mind if I join you?"

The girl and boy both look up at her with wide, curious eyes. A beat later, and the girl smiles.

"Of course! I'm Hermione Granger, and this is Neville Longbottom."

"I'm Hollis Black," she said, smiling at them as she stowed her trunk and owl cage, before sitting down next to Hermione. "Nice to meet you both. What are you reading?" She nodded at the book next to Hermione.

"It's called Hogwarts, A History," Hermione said.

"Oh, I've read that! It's in the library at home," Hollis said, eager to have something in common with a potential friend. "It's quite good, but a bit dry, don't you think?"

Hermione looked a bit startled, but then she smiled.

"Oh, yes!" she said. "Do you come from a wizarding family, then?"

Hollis nodded.

"Yes," she offered, not wanting to get into the complicated mess that was her family. "You do too, don't you? I think my dad mentioned a Longbottom, before."

Neville nodded, looking shy.

"Yeah," he said simply. "The Longbottom's are an old house, like the Black's. My gran mentioned your dad," he added, at Hollis's raised eyebrows. "She says he's doing good work."

"Thanks," Hollis said, a bit dryly. Most of what she knew about her father's work came from his complaining about it.

"What does your father do?" Hermione asked. "I've been reading about careers in the magical world, of course, but I haven't had anyone to speak to about it yet."

"He doesn't work, exactly," Hollis explained. "We live off of investments and old family money. Sirius - that's one of my dads - is a Lord in the Wizengamot."

"Oh!'" Hermione said. "I've heard of that! It's rather like Parliament, isn't it?"

Hollis had heard the comparison before.

"That's the closest muggle equivalent," she said. "But I'm told there are more differences than similarities." 

"I'll have to read about it. I've heard that Hogwarts has an excellent library."

"Remus - that's my other dad - he said the Hogwarts library is the best public library in Britain. Only a few of the older families have libraries that are anywhere near as large."

She didn't say that the Black family library at Number 12 was one of them. That would seem too much like boasting, and that didn't seem a good way to start a friendship. Perhaps later, if Hermione turned out to be a real friend, she would invite her over the summer holidays to see it.

The idea gave her a kind of thrill. She'd had friends before, of course. She considered Draco a friend, though he was her cousin first, and a few other children of Wizengamot members that Sirius had arranged play dates with, as well. 

But this felt different.

She was making her own friends, this time.

Hermione's eyes had gone a bit wide.

"Is... is that okay, in the wizarding world?" she breathed.

Hollis frowned.

"Is what okay?"

"Two men - or two women, I suppose - being together?"

"Of course!" Hollis said, understanding suddenly. She had spent enough time in the muggle world to know about the rampant homophobia that existed there, though she understood things were improving. "It's perfectly acceptable here."

For a moment, she fears that Hermione had been raised to believe otherwise. But instead, she grinned.

"That's brilliant! I have two uncles, you know, and the discrimination they face is _awful_. I'm glad it's different here."

Relieved, Hollis nodded.

"You mean it's not okay in the muggle world?" Neville asked, his voice almost painfully quiet. The train took that moment to begin moving, and the conversation paused as the three of them moved to the window, all waving goodbye to their respective guardians.

Hollis and Hermione exchanged a glance.

"Not really. A lot of people think it's unnatural or immoral," Hollis finally said. "It was even illegal for a long time - actually, I don't think two muggles of the same gender can get married or anything."

Neville looked horrified.

"That's awful," he said.

Hollis frowned, seeing suddenly for the first time how easy it might be to hate muggles, if you were ignorant of them.

"Lots of people are trying to change that, though," she added quickly.

Neville nodded slowly.

"Oh... good," he said, somewhat lamely, as if he realized that, despite his outrage, there was nothing he could do about it. "Have you spent a lot of time in the muggle world, Hollis? You seem to know a great deal about it."

"Yes. Moony and Padfoot - that's my nicknames for my dads," she explained quickly, "they said it was important for me to have different life experiences," she said, as if she was quoting something. "Padfoot has a wicked motorcycle. It can fly," she told Hermione, who's eyes widened.

"Wow. I didn't think magic and technology could coexist! How does it work?"

"I have no idea. But Sirius - Padfoot - enchanted it himself," she said proudly.

"Why do you call them that?" Hermione asked, obviously only barely distracted by the idea of a flying motorcycle to ask. "Instead of calling them, I don't know, dad or father or something?"

Hollis blushed a bit.

"Oh, it's because... I was adopted, you know? And I was old enough to know their names, and I had already started calling them 'Padfoot' and 'Moony,' and I guess it was easier to keep it up."

"That makes sense," Hermione said kindly. There was a knock at the door.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" A smiling witch asked, pushing a trolley full of sweets.

Neville and Hollis both jumped up, but Hermione hesitated.

"I'm not supposed to eat sweets," she fretted. "My mum and dad are dentists, and they're not good for your teeth."

Perplexed, Neville looked at Hollis. 

"What are dentists?"

"Like healers for your teeth," she explained promptly, before turning to Hermione. "Come on, Hermione! It's your first time on the Hogwart's Express; live a little! Besides," she whispered, as if telling a great secret, "there's a great spell to ward against cavities, I've heard. We can find it in the library and try it later!"

This seemed to convince Hermione, who drew a small pouch of wizarding gold out of her pocket. The trio gathered around the care, and got some of everything, before sitting back down and sharing it among themselves.

Hermione was very interested in the sweets, asking quite a lot of questions about them, which Neville and Hollis answered to the best of their abilities.

"It's all so very interesting!" Hermione said. "I spent my whole life wishing magic was real, and it is! Sometimes I feel like it's just a wonderful dream, and I'm going to wake up any minutes."

Then she looked embarrassed, as if she had said too much.

"I'm sure a lot of muggleborns feel the same," Hollis assured her. "It's different when you've grown up with it, though."

"I suppose," Hermione said. "Do you think I'll be terribly behind everyone else?" she blurted out.

"No, not at all!" Hollis laughed, though not in a mean way. "Most won't have bothered with _Hogwarts, A History_ , for one. And even purebloods don't learn magic before school - it's illegal."

She didn't mention that most pureblood families flouted that law. Not her own, as Remus had been quite strict about it, even if Sirius might have bent the rules once or twice. 

Hermione, seemingly cheered, opened a chocolate frog, only to gasp as it hopped away. Hollis managed to catch it and handed it backed to the other girl, who took it, looking a bit squeamish.

"It's just a charm," she said. "What card did you get?"

"Card?" Hermione asked, looking at the packaging. "Oh! It's moving!"

"Yeah, there's some kind of potion that you develop the photographs in," Hollis explained, knowing that Hermione would be curious. "Who did you get?" She reached for her own frog.

"Morgana. What do you do with them?"

"Most people collect them," Hollis said, before biting into her own frog, feeling it squirm in her mouth for a moment before the charm wore off. "I do. What about you, Neville?"

"Some," Neville said, tearing into a licorice wand. He seemed to be relaxing a bit. "Who did you get, Hollis?"

"It's Dumbledore," she read aloud. "I've got a few of him." But she read the card, anyway.

**_ALBUS DUMBLEDORE_ **

_CURRENTLY HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS_

_Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark Wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon’s blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and ten-pin bowling._

Hollis had never met the headmaster of Hogwarts. What little she knew about him came from Sirius ranting to Remus, which she wasn't supposed to hear but listened to anyway, and from books.

She also knew that he was close with the Potter's, which didn't endear him to her at all.

Stowing the card away to add to her collection, perhaps to trade later, she joined in with Hermione in describing how muggle sweets were different than magical ones.

They had a good time eating their sweets, with Hollis a sort of intermediary between the two others, explaining magical things to Hermione and muggle ones to Neville, and they went undisturbed until there was a knock at the door to their compartment, and it slid open.

"Oh, hello Hollis," Draco Malfoy said, changing his sneering face into a pleasant one so fast it practically gave her whiplash. "I was looking for you."

"Hullo, Draco," she said with a grin. "Crabbe, Goyle," she added, speaking to the two boys following him. As usual, they looked surprised that they were acknowledged. "This is Hermione and Neville," she added, nodding at her new friends. "This is my cousin, Draco Malfoy, and his, er, friends, Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe."

"Hello," Neville and Hermione echoed, though Neville did look a bit pale. No doubt he had heard of the Malfoy's, Hollis thought. They were rather infamous.

Draco looked at them rather disdainfully, but refrained from any biting comments. Hollis liked to think it was because he was fond of her. 

"Yes, well. pleased to meet you both," he said, and he was almost polite about it. "Listen, Hollis - Potter is about, exploring the train with his friend Weasley. I thought you should know." 

Hollis frowned.

"Thanks, Draco. You don't know any good warding spells, do you?"

Draco laughed.

"Not on your life. If he finds you, give him a good hex for me, won't you?" And with that, Draco turned, Crabbe and Goyle dutifully following behind. 

"Why would you want to hex Lucas Potter?" Neville asked.

"That's the Boy-Who-Lived, isn't it?" Hermione said excitedly, apparently pleased to know something without having to have it explained to her. "I've read all about him. He's supposed to be a hero, isn't he?"

Hollis gave a bitter laugh.

"It's not Lucas that I have a problem with, it's his parents. I told you I was adopted," she said. "Well, Lucas is my twin brother. My birth parents are James and Lily Potter."

Hermione and Neville both gaped at her, neither one seeming to know what to say. 

"But how? Why?" Hermione asked.

Hollis shrugged self-consciously.

"They said it was for my own protection, that it was dangerous since You-Know-Who's followers were looking for them," she said monotonously. "They sent me to my aunt and uncle. Muggles. My godfather sued for custody when he found out," she added, the story pouring from her almost without meaning to. "And the Ministry investigated. They had locked me in the cupboard under the stairs. The ministry charged my birth parents with neglect, and awarded Sirius custody. It was all in a closed hearing, until this summer, when it was in the paper." 

"Oh, Hollis!" Hermione said, with what looked like tears in her eyes, and she leaned forward to wrap her arms around the other girl. "That's positively horrible!"

"Yeah," Neville added, as Hollis sat there, stunned. "I never knew... and it was in the Daily Prophet? Merlin, that's awful."

Hollis was a little bit stunned. She had always assumed that people would side with the Boy-Who-Lived and his parents, he was so popular.

Somehow, it hadn't occurred to her that people would be on her side.

"Yeah," she said, wetly. "Anyway, seeing Lucas is... hard. I love my dads," she added hurriedly, "but I can't forget."

Hermione let her go, puffing up angrily.

"I certainly understand that!" she said. "Well, if you want to avoid him for a while, I'll help you."

"So will I," Neville added.

"But really, you're going to have to get used to him. What if you're in the same house?"

Hollis sighed.

"I know. But I'll cross that bridge if and when I get to it," she said glumly. "At least we wouldn't be in the same dorm."

"What does Lucas think about it?" Hermione asked.

"You know, I've no idea," Hollis said. "But he always stares at me so oddly when we see each other, it's weird."

"Well, it must be," Hermione said. "To know you have a twin out there, and all. To wonder."

"Yes, I suppose," Hollis replied, not feeling at all inclined to consider Lucas's point of view.

Fortunately for her, Lucas did not come visiting, though they did hear people shouting and running up and down the corridors several times. The rest of their trip was rather subdued, the revelation of Hollis's birth family having brought down the mood somewhat, which she regretted.

When they felt the train begin slow down, Neville stepped outside of the compartment so that Hollis and Hermione could change, then they swapped.

Making their way down the corridor to join the crowds that were clamoring to get off the train, Hollis stuck close to Hermione and Neville, and when Draco joined them, she just smiled at him.

Now that they were almost to Hogwarts, she could feel her nerves almost overpowering her. She didn't know anything about how they would be sorted, and that not knowing was making her terribly anxious. 

Hollis took a deep breath, and then another, as she was crowded out onto the platform. The older years seemed to know where to go, and she looked around, wondering if they should follow, when she heard the call.

"Fir's years! Firs' years, over 'ere!"

A truly gigantic man was holding a lantern and calling out over the crowd, and with a mental shrug, Hollis led her two new friends over to him, joining the rest of the first year students.

"Is that all of ye?" he asked allowed as the train emptied and the platform was bare except for his group. "Follow me, now!"

And he turned, holding his lantern up so that they could follow it into the darkness.

Slipping and sliding, they took a stone path off the platform, and when they turned a corner -

"Oh, it's beautiful!" Hermione gasped, the castle finally coming into view. And it was. Hogwarts was probably the loveliest thing Hollis had ever seen.

She was pulled from her daze when the giant man spoke.

"No more’n four to a boat!"

Looking around, Hollis realized there was a group of small rowboats gathered at the shore of a great lake. Together with Hermione, Neville, and surprisingly, Draco, she climbed into one. Once all the students were settled, the giant man spoke again.

"Everyone in? Righ' then - forward!"

And the little fleet of boats began to float across the lake, the silent first years staring up at the magnificent castle.

"Head down!" their guide shouted, as they approached a cliff, and Hollis ducked. Past a curtain of ivy, they arrived at a small cove with shore and dock, and there the boats came to rest.

He led them up to the huge doors of the castle, then, raising one huge fist, knocked on the doors three times. The doors swung open to reveal a witch in green robes with her hair in a severe-looking bun. 

"The firs’-years, Professor McGonagall," said the man.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

The woman, Professor McGonagall, had featured in many of the stories her dads had told her about Hogwarts. Hollis knew that she was the transfiguration teacher, as well as being head of Gryffindor House. She led them into a small room on the side of the entrance hall. 

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said, proceeded by a short speech about the school. It was nothing that Hollis didn't know, but still, she listened attentively.

As soon as Professor McGonagall left the small room, hushed whispers filled it.

Hollis knew that it was traditional that first years went to Hogwarts not knowing how the sorting worked, but Merlin, she wished Sirius had broken that rule. Neville looked like he was about to be sick, and Hermione was muttering under her breath. Rallying herself, Hollis spoke.

"Hey, it's going to be fine," she said. "It's not like they would have us do anything dangerous, right?"

Draco, who was standing near them, rolled his eyes. It seemed that he would tolerate Neville and Hermione because of her, but only to a point. Thankfully, though, he restrained himself from any comments.

Before Professor McGonagall could return, there was a collective gasp. A large group of ghosts has just floated into the room, arguing among themselves. Hollis stared in interest. She had never seen a ghost before.

"New students!" said one of the ghosts, a plump man in friar's robes. "About to be sorted, I suppose?"

A few people nodded, but most were too surprised or frightened to do anything.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" he said. "My old house, you know." 

"Move along now," Professor McGonagall's voice rang out. "The Sorting Ceremony’s about to start."

The ghosts floated away, and the professor instructed them to form a line. The first years shuffled around, arranging themselves, and followed Professor McGonagall through the doors into the Great Hall. 

It was a sight that nearly eclipsed that of the castle. There were four long tables, one for each of the houses, and the whole hall was lit by floating candles. Hollis looked up and saw that the ceiling didn't appear to be there at all, but mimicked the night sky.

"It’s bewitched to look like the sky outside, I read about it in _Hogwarts: A History,"_ Hermione whispered to Neville.

The first years gathered in front of the head table, as Professor McGonagall set a three-legged stool down, and placed a raggedy hat upon it. To Hollis's surprise, a tear near the brim opened like a mouth, and it began to sing.

It was quite a nice song, telling them how they were to be sorted and going on about the virtues of each of the four houses, but Hollis could barely listen. She was staring at the had, wondering how it worked.

Wondering what house she would be placed in. Sirius and Remus had assured her that they didn't care, but still. She knew how they had felt about Slytherin as students. What if she was sorted there, and they were upset? 

Before she could dwell on that too much, Professor McGonagall had stepped forward, a long roll of parchment in her hand, and began to call out names.

"Abbott, Hannah!"

A girl with blonde pigtails separated herself from the group, and walked up to the hat, sitting on the stool and placing it on her head. A beat of silence, and then -

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

With a sinking sensation, Hollis realized that she would be called at the beginning if they were going by surname. Sure enough, the next name that Professor McGonagall called out was her own.

"Black, Hollis!"

Legs feeling numb, and rather wishing that she wasn't being stared at quite so much, Hollis approached Professor McGonagall. She could hear whispers throughout the hall, and quietly damned Rita Skeeter in the privacy of her own mind.

She sat, and placed the hat on her head.

" _Hmm_ ," said a quiet voice. Hollis couldn't tell if it was speaking into her ear, or directly into her mind. " _Difficult. Very difficult. You've a thirst for knowledge, and plenty of courage. And a nice drive to prove yourself, as well. Interesting, very interesting. Now, where shall I put you_?"

"I don't know," Hollis thought to herself. She thought about not wanting to be in Slytherin, but also about not wanting to be in the same house as Lucas. 

" _Not Slytherin, hmm? You could be great, you know, it’s all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that_."

And that - that was appealing, Hollis had to admit. But there were more important things than power and greatness, weren't there?

" _Ah, I see, I see. Well, then, better be -_ GRYFFINDOR!" it shouted to the hall.

With a smile, Hollis leaped from the stool, placed the hat back down, and bounded over to her new house, where she was welcomed with applause. 

She took her seat and turned to watch the rest of the sorting.

Hermione joined her soon, and then Neville did, as well, the trio sitting in a group and grinning. Draco, of course, was sorted into Slytherin.

Finally, the moment she had been dreading happened. It was her twin's turned to be sorted.

"Potter, Lucas!"

Her twin walked confidently up to the stool and sat down. The hat rested on his head for a moment, before shouting out his house.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Hollis bit back a groan, and Hermione patted her on the back.

So much for avoiding him.

Lucas swaggered on over to the Gryffindor table, looking very pleased with himself, indeed

The applause he received was the loudest yet, with two red-haired boys shouting, "We got Potter, we got Potter!"

Hollis rolled her eyes at them. 

The rest of the sorting went without incident, though she did note that the red-haired boy from Diagon Alley, Ron Weasley, joined their table, sitting next to Lucas with a wide grin on his face. 

Once 'Zabini, Blaise' had gone to Slytherin, Professor McGonagall rolled her parchment up and took the hat and the stool from the hall, and the headmaster stood.

"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" And he sat back down. 

Hollis couldn't help but grin. 

Hermione, on the other hand, frowned.

"That was odd."

"The headmaster is known to be a bit... eccentric," Hollis informed her, as the feast appeared on the tables all at once. Even Hermione was distracted from the sorting by the food, and they tucked in.

Hollis saw that her twin was seated next to the house ghost, Nearly-Headless Nick, and looked rather uncomfortable about it. The Weasley boy was eating with even more vigor than the rest, and there were two others boys that looked to be first-years, as well. Feeling uncomfortable, Hollis turned to the other two girls who were sorted into Gryffindor.

"Hello," she said between bites of roast beef. "I'm Hollis Black, and this it Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom,"

One of the girls giggled.

"Hi! I'm Lavender Brown," she said.

"Parvati Patil," add the other one. She bit her lip, and glanced down the table. "Is it true the Black's adopted you? My mum was so upset about the article! She loves the Potter's."

Hollis stiffened but forced herself to stay calm. She had known this was coming, after all.

"Yeah, it's true. Somehow Rita Skeeter got all her facts right," she said, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice.

Lavender gaped a little bit.

"Wow," she said. "That's terrible."

Hollis nodded.

"Yeah, I guess it is. I try not to think about it," she said, which was something of a lie. Or maybe not - maybe she just wasn't very good at avoiding the subject, even in her own mind.

Parvati nodded.

"It must be weird," she said. "I've got a twin, Padma. She went to Ravenclaw. It's going to be strange only seeing her after classes and stuff. We usually spend almost all our time together."

Hollis allowed herself to wonder what it would have been like to grow up with a brother. It must be nice, she thought, to have someone to share things with. A friend, or even closer than a friend.

She didn't like thinking about it. It was too close to regret, and she couldn't handle that. 

"I guess," she demurred, glancing over at the Slytherin table to distract herself. Poor Draco was seated next to the house ghost, and he didn't look pleased about it. She stifled an amused smile as he glanced over at her, glaring without heat.

When everyone had finished eating, the food vanished from the tables, only to be replaced by mountains of desserts. It all looked delicious, and Hollis pulled her favorite, treacle tart, over in front of her, as their conversation turned away from their families, much to her relief.

"I think I'm most looking forward to transfiguration, you know, turning something into something else, of course, it’s supposed to be very difficult."

"Professor McGonagall teaches that class, I think," Hollis said. "I can't wait for Defense Against the Dark Arts, myself. 

"I like herbology," Neville volunteered shyly. "We have a greenhouse at home."

Lavender was eager for charms, and Parvati for potions.

One of the older years laughed a bit as Parvati said this.

"Well, you might want to do a bit of self-study," he advised. "Professor Snape teaches potions. He's head of Slytherin House, and he favors them."

She frowned, and so did Hollis. Sirius and Remus had mentioned Snape to her, though neither of them said much. She did know, however, that there was some kind of tension between him and her dads. 

She only hoped that Snape didn't take it out on her. She looked up at the head table, wondering which one he was.

Two of the professors caught her attention. One was a pale, skinny man with, oddly enough, a purple turban on his head, who was speaking to a man with a hooked nose.

"Who's the professor with the turban?" Hollis asked the helpful older student.

"Oh, that's Quirrell," she said. "He's going to teach Defense, I think. And he's talking to Professor Snape."

Just as Hollis was about to look away, Snape turned, staring at her past Quirrell, and their eyes met. Hollis felt odd, as if he was looking into her very soul. After a moment, the professor turned away, and she looked back to her dessert, unsettled.

How odd.

Once dessert was finished, the rest of the food disappeared and the headmaster rose from his seat, looking out over them with a benevolent smile.

"Ahem – just a few more words now we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. I would like to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, though he will be familiar to some of you, Professor Quirinus Quirrell!" 

There was scattered applause in the hall. The older year, who had helped them out before, leaned over to whisper to them.

"There's a new defense professor every year," she said. "Some people say the job's cursed."

Professor Dumbledore continued, going on about the rules of Hogwarts - not to enter the forest, no magic in the halls between class - when he said something a little bit more interesting. And concerning. 

"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

A few people laughed, but Hollis wasn't one of them. Hogwarts was supposed to be safe.

Wasn't it?

They sang the school song, each to their own tune, and then were dismissed for the night, and the first years were gathered by the prefects.

"I'm Claudia Graham, and this is Percy Weasley," she said, introducing the red-haired boy, who must be Ron's older brother. "Now follow us."

"We're your fifth year prefects," Percy continued as they led the first years out of the Great Hall. "You can come to either of us with any questions or concerns you have, and we'll do our best to help. There are also sixth and seventh year prefects. The Head Girl this year is a Hufflepuff, and the Head Boy is a Slytherin, but you can also go to them if you feel the need."

"We'll bring you to the Great Hall for breakfast tomorrow, but after that you're on your own, mostly. It takes a bit to get used to the castle, but you'll figure out your way around in no time," Claudia said. "Tomorrow is also when you get your class schedule."

They went up moving staircases, behind tapestries, and through what looked like solid walls, until they arrived at a painting of a woman wearing a pink dress.

"This is the Fat Lady," Percy introduced the painting. "She guards Gryffindor Tower. A password is required to enter. For now, it's _Fortuna Major,"_ and as he said the words, the portrait swung open.

The common room of Gryffindor Tower was large, but still managed to look cozy, with roaring fireplaces and cushy couches and armchairs. 

"Welcome to Gryffindor," Claudia said with a grin. "The house of the brave."

Percy took up the speech, then.

"The bulletin board is there," he said, pointing at the wall. "Important notices, as well as the change in tower password, will be posted there. Now, it's very important that you keep the password to yourself. Members of other houses aren't allowed in the tower, and you are not allowed in their respective common rooms, so keep that in mind."

"You are, however, encouraged to make friends in the other houses," Claudia added. "Or keep up preexisting friendships. Hogwarts is all about house unity. Now, you must be tired. Percy will take the boys, and I'll take the girls up to your dorm rooms." 

Hollis and Hermione separated from Neville with a quick "good night," and followed Claudia out of the common room and up the stairs. They were nearly at the top when she stopped outside a door inscribed with the words, " _First Years_."

"Here we are," she said, pushing the door open to reveal a large, round room, with enough four-poster beds for each of them. "Your things have been brought from the train. Good night!"

And the four first years were left alone. There was an awkward silence for a moment among the girls, before Hollis decided to find her bed. That seemed to be all the others needed to begin to search for the bed they had been assigned. 

Hollis found herself between Lavender and Hermione, which suited her just fine. She wanted to get to know her new roommates, but the feast had settled in her stomach, and she was exhausted. She thought about Lucas, in the room closer to hers than he had ever slept since they were children.

It was an odd thought, one that Hollis didn't want to dwell on.

She changed into her pajamas, and climbed into bed, vaguely aware of the other girls doing the same. 

In the morning, she would write to Sirius and Remus, she thought vaguely, and closed her eyes. 

She had a very strange dream in the night, in which she was wearing Quirrell's turban, and Snape was there, telling her she ought to have been in Slytherin. The turban kept getting tighter, and tighter, while Snape was watching. And then there was a flash of green light, and she woke up, sweating and shaking.

But she must have been very tired, indeed, because she fell back asleep right away, and didn't remember the dream at all. 


End file.
